Date: 4/20/26 5:39 pm From: Ted Ryan via Tweeters <tweeters...> Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Beware the Chipping Sparrow
Dennis,
I am curious about what you said here:
"I understood that the main reason for developing Merlin was so that people could learn bird sounds more readily, but it seems that it is used primarily for adding to eBird lists."
All we can see is those potential false ID's. What isn't recorded is all the people Merlin has helped. That isn't recorded anywhere. So, how can we know to what degree it is helping people versus used primarily for reporting?
Cheers,
Ted Port Orchard
>> >> Date: Sat, 18 Apr 2026 18:09:33 -0700 >> From: Dennis Paulson via Tweeters <tweeters...> >> To: TWEETERS tweeters <tweeters...> >> Cc: Carol Riddell <cariddellwa...> >> Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Beware the Chipping Sparrow >> Message-ID: <CE8B6616-2B8E-4B02-AA3E-2AF9B0C1387F...> >> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 >> >> I?ll add to what Carol said. I have been seeing this rash of Chipping Sparrow reports by sound, and indeed it seems that Merlin does confuse juncos and Chipping Sparrows with some frequency. And of course this isn?t the only error that Merlin makes. I understood that the main reason for developing Merlin was so that people could learn bird sounds more readily, but it seems that it is used primarily for adding to eBird lists. >> >> If Merlin makes errors only 5-10% of the time, and I think that may not be far off, think of that number of errors times the number of eBird checklists being submitted every day?potentially hundreds and hundreds of erroneous records in Cornell?s database just in our state. >> >> It seems appropriate that any time Merlin reports an unexpected bird, if at all possible that bird should be confirmed with your own eyes or your own knowledge of bird vocalizations. >> >> Dennis Paulson >> Seattle >> >> >
